The F-35 is descended from the X-35, which was the winning design of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin. Other major F-35 industry partners include Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems. The F-35 took its first flight on 15 December 2006. The United States plans to buy 2,457 aircraft. The F-35 variants are intended to provide the bulk of the manned tactical airpower of the U.S. Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps over the coming decades. Deliveries of the F-35 for the U.S. military are scheduled to be completed in 2037 with a projected service life up to 2070.

F-35 JSF development is being principally funded by the United States with additional funding from partners. The partner nations are either NATO members or close U.S. allies. The United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Turkey are part of the active development program; several additional countries have ordered, or are considering ordering, the F-35.

The program is the most expensive military weapons system in history, and it has been the object of much criticism from those inside and outside government—in the US and in allied countries. Critics argue that the plane is “plagued with design flaws,” with many blaming the procurement process in which Lockheed was allowed “to design, test, and produce the F-35 all at the same time, instead of … [identifying and fixing] defects before firing up its production line.” By 2014, the program was “$163 billion over budget [and] seven years behind schedule.” Critics further contend that the program’s high sunk costsand political momentum make it “too big to kill.

F-35A: $98M (low rate initial production without engine, full production in 2018 to be $85M)
F-35B: US$104M (low rate initial production without engine)
F-35C: US$116M (low rate initial production without engine)

F-35C

VFA-101 – Eglin AFB, Florida (Navy squadron, but trains both Navy and Marine F-35C pilots, and operates Navy and Marine F-35Cs maintained by both Sailors and Marines. This is the same arrangement as other aircraft common to the Navy and Marine Corps.)

Hardpoints: 6 × external pylons on wings with a capacity of 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) and two internal bays with two pylons with a capacity of 3,000 (1,360 kg) for a total weapons payload of 18,000 lb (8,100 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of: